Standard nuclear biological contaminate (NBC) air filters are designed for installation within enrivonmentally sealed military vehicles. Air from the atmosphere is drawn through the filter, which removes nuclear and biological contaminates, and delivered to an occupied space within the vehicle. The filter helps ensure that the occupants of the vehicle are safeguarded from those contaminates. In a hostile environment, it is obvious that a saturated filter must be replaced quickly and reliably. Replacement is complicated, however, because the operator changing the filter must wear cumbersome clothing and gloves for his or her own safety.
Light, mobile vehicles, such as reconnaissance vehicles, require that the size and weight of filter replacement mechanisms be minimized to ensure that such a vehicle may efficiently carry out its prescribed mission. Moreover, the filter replacement mechanism must be able to withstand the excessive forces, such as vibration and shock, encountered by the vehicle during operation so that the filter may safely and continuously remove contaminates from the air entering the vehicle.